That Brother of Mine
by NickeltheRed
Summary: Her following daring words just slid out. "So, if I went out with your brother, that'd be alright with you?" What better way for her to gain his full attention than to pull older brothers into the mix? Mild sasusaku. Pre-Shippuden.


**I do not own **_**Naruto**_**, and so forth. And **I don't know if I going to update. Depends on the readers' choice.****

**Alright so, this was a really old idea that a friend of mine and I had once talked over. Longer story quite shorter, Haruno Kai (the OC), Sakura's elder brother returns home to Kohona during his break from missions from Hidden Stone. And right away, the rest can tell sibling rivalry bubbles between them, even when Kai teasingly acts as if Sakura means the world to him. (Their relationship sort of compares to Yuki and Ayame's in _Fruits Basket_.)**

**And it's sort of AU, but not really. At the time, Sasuke's wearing the black suit, but currently they are not worrying about Orochimaru or anyone or anything from the Chuunin Exams. It's like a filler, I guess...it's fanfiction, haha :)**

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><p><em>Naruto leaned against the railing, yawned carelessly, and shook his head. When he refocused his heavy eyes, he just happened to notice something interesting taking place down on the streets below. Pointing forward, he turned to his teammates still sitting, sipping their tea on the platform. <em>

"_Ne, Sakura-chan...isn't that your brother? He's with Ino." _

_Sakura drew the cup away from her mouth, blinking. "What?"_

_In unison she and Sasuke leapt up to the bar, to Naruto's left. And there they all witnessed...Haruno Kai, having what it seemed like a very cheerful, and passionate chat with the young flower caretaker. She reached out to swat playfully at Kai's forearm, stroking it fleetingly. Kai's profile crinkled into a grin as he added something to the conversation, and that's when he pulled out a ticket, for the tea house up the village a ways. _

_Sakura drew in a sharp breath, gritting her teeth. "Is this some type of a joke?" _

_And to pile on to all the strange tension hovering the circumstances, Kai had inclined afterwards, pecking Ino on the corner of her mouth before he passed the ticket over to her and headed in the direction of the Haruno residence._

_Naruto stuck out his tongue feeling slightly disgusted. Why go for that Ino girl? But Sakura's reaction on the other hand, was rather intensified. With a glower, her jaw had silently dropped open. She'd become far too livid to even find the words at that point— And Sasuke? Well, he wasn't sure how this would affect his life whatsoever. _

_"This is cannot be happening to me!" Sakura swiftly climbed over the railing, and dashed out of sight, leaving the boys mildly stunned by her sudden impulsive motion. _

"_N-Ne, Sakura-chan...wait a minute!" Naruto tried hastily to follow suit. "Sasuke-baka, come on already!"_

_Sasuke rolled his eyes. "And this how we're spending our say off," he mumbled._

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><p>Sakura growled through a screech as she started to pace to and fro in the empty classroom. Apparently, she had returned home to interrogate her mother about Kai. And when she heard the truth on the up-coming evening <em>date,<em> she departed from the house to seek any place the would grant her privacy. Any place which she could fume alone.

(In time though, Sasuke had been the one to catch her first, hiding out at their old academy, and on his second try. His first run had been to the bridge, the team's daily meeting spot. Meanwhile...Naruto was just unknowingly wasting his time and energy by scanning every inch of the Village...now, on the lookout for either one of his teammates, in order to find the the other. Of course, he would think too broadly and get too ahead of himself to figure out a much simpler solution.)

After what they had encountered, it didn't take Sakura long to fall into an exasperated rant after Sasuke slumbed in the front row, when he had arrived. He felt obligated and forced by the regular social conventions of the day to ask her what was wrong. After all...he wasn't utterly heartless. Some would say he was close enough, but not utterly.

"I _cannot believe_ her! After all that _swine had done_; turn her back on me, calling me names, and now she thinks I'd _would be_ _alright_ with this! He's only been here for three days and she's all over him? She must have known this would get under my skin! If she _were_ a true friend, she'd follow the _base rule_ of the Friendship Code!"

"I've never heard of such thing," he offered her.

The flustered kunoichi paused mid-step, huffing, and gradually she gained back her composure. "Oh, it's not a published document or anything; The Code just maintains some concepts that are merely implied in a friendship. Like personal guidelines. If you have friends, you're automatically bound to the Code."

Sasuke grasped the idea. "Hn, I see. And what rule or line, as you believe, did Ino cross?"

"The one that states: _Siblings are off Limits at all Times when it comes to Romance_! Everyone knows that!" Sakura clarified, thrashing her hands down. "Unless, of course, the sibling is involved with someone first and you befriend them overtime. That's the exception. But it's wrong when you have been friends with the person for time beforehand."

"Meaning?"

"Everything becomes complicated because when siblings get in involved with your friends, Sasuke-kun. When siblings _do_ get involved, it becomes difficult for that friend to choose sides when it really counts! And then, the sibling themself becomes confused as they get trapped between their feelings for that friend and their biological bond they have with the other sibling. And so on. If the relationship doesn't work out in the end, it's _worse_. That's when hard feelings are just thrown about in a dramatic triangle!"

"Sakura," he began once he managed to process her reasoning, "all this time...why haven't you mentioned you even _had_ an older brother?"

At his reply, Sakura immediately grew a bit more timid, and she shot out swiftly, "It, um, never really crossed my mind."

"_Sakura...,"_ he pushed, attempting to verbally corner her in.

She sighed. She knew it'd be best not to bar off anything important from Sasuke. He didn't always let things slide. He clearly had a grudge issue. "Well, to be honest...it had something to do with you, Sasuke-kun. A part of it had at least."

"And how's that exactly?"

By the weight of his trademark stare, Sakura could indicate instantly that he wasn't all that pleased to hear where the discussion was drifting towards.

Flushing, she explained as evenly as she could, "Sasuke-kun, ah, it's not..._exactly_ a secret that you're quite sensitive to the subject of family, let alone _brothers_. With all things considered, of course."

She was only trying to be greatly considerate of his ever-suppressed heartache. Obviously she truly had no intentions of accusing him of anything in the matter, but rather she was stating a "simple observation."

And like she had nearly expected, Sasuke parted his mouth to defend himself, or to question her further—or _something_. Although Sakura, happened to be quicker with her added response. "Besides—you're not always too keen on what I have to say most of the time anyways, to be fair enough."

It was unusually bold of her to aim a wisecrack towards him of all people, but in the end Sakura wanted to support her case as well.

That statement had caused Sasuke's jaw re-clamp shut, now growing slightly embarrassed with himself. Reclinging back in his seat, he shoved his fists into the pits of his pockets of his black jumper suit. He too, averted his gaze momentarily. "So what are you going to do about Ino, then?"

"...This can't happen. I have to stop it, before it gets too far." She said, formally deciding on it. "Will you help me? I going to be in need for some backup."

"You're really immature, Sakura," Sasuke reprimanded in return, "to sabotage a date. You'd be better than that I hoped."

"Sasuke-kun...I know it may sound harsh, but Ino doesn't know Kai like I do. She's only met him once or twice when we were younger." —Sakura certainly was not about to bring up old memeries either. She wasn't too sure if she was in the best mood to inform Sasuke of the famous _Tie-your-sister-up-and-throw-her-into-the-river-without-any-warning-and-then-set-your-brother's-shorts-on-fire-when-fell-asleep-for-payback! Game _(one amongst a few other chilhood sports.) —"Ino's letting her physical attraction to him alone blind her. Once he leaves, then what is she going to do about him? This is for the greater purpose."

"For yourself," he suspected, his brow rising.

"No, for everyone." corrected Sakura again. "Believe me!"

"This is so lame, Sakura," Sasuke stood, and started for the exit. "So your brother and Ino are getting together tonight. There are worst things out there that could happen to you. Be greatful they've haven't yet—it's not a big deal."

He was thinking too broadly, she noted to herself, too basic. That was Naruto's common form of logic, not his. Sakura was honestly surprised that he hadn't taken the time to completely analyze the situation to the last remaining minuscule detail. He was an Uchiha; the best student, he was _supposed_ to be exceedingly clever, wasn't he? He was a sibling too, and that was undoubtedly, _one_ thing they had in common above all else, at best. And perchance, that was the one thing she could use to pull his opinion her way.

Setting her gaze upon his receding backside, Sakura was beside herself with determination, and her following daring words had just slid out. "So...if I went out with your brother, that'd be alright with you?"

Within moments, Sasuke's feet had suddenly planted themselves to the wooden surface beneath them, his form growing utterly rigid. He slowly faced his admirer once more with an intense, searching expression. "What's that?"

"You wouldn't mind if I leave to go with Itachi? You'd be alright if I stopped trusting and favoring you, and just chose his side?"

It was faint, very subtle, but Sakura was fairly assured that the muscle underneath his right eye had twitched.

She estimated the mental image which she was building should have been effective, at least to some degree.

Sakura continued on with great peer pressure lacing into her usual sweetened tone, "You'd be alright with him taking me out, getting friendly with me, perhaps even kissing me, and just leaving me behind afterwards? Or better yet, maybe even ask me to leave _with_ him instead? Oh, what ever shall I do then?"

Another twitch.

She did it. She got through to him. But Sakura was not _quite_ finished. Not yet. She decided to give him the grand finale to her little bittersweet, taunting performance.

She shrugged all too innocently then, concluding it with, "But hey, your brother falling for a supposed-to-be-good friend—_it's no big deal_...right?"

He scowled in her direction, scowled rather hard too. Though the funny thing was, it didn't feel as if he was cross with her directly, for the look became a little distant. He seemed to be temporarily lost in thought, seething over something or another.

Then eventually, Sasuke met her gaze curious again, conquered and caught, but resolute just the same. "So, what's the plan?"

And in that moment Sakura's pursed, smirking lips spread further into a witty grin.

She and Sasuke had a personal mission to get ready for.

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><p><strong>I'm going to be honest, I have somewhat lost my faith in Sasusaku a little while ago, since <strong>**Sasuke is currently just bat-crap insane, and I think **_**everyone **_**in the _Naruto_ ****series ****really ****just needs to go to group therapy****. Though, who knows, maybe spirits will be lifted eventually. But I still hope the reader enjoyed this oneshot, and will grant me reviews and opinions. Thanks! **


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